Easter in October

The Plan

Most of you know, our lives are somewhat complicated… and that only got more true with KK’s broken ankle. We have 5 kids in 5 schools, together with work and doctor’s office visits. It’s crazy town, barely controlled chaos.

And, some of you may also know, I am not always the best at working through all the small details.

Case in point, this last Thursday. Most of you have met Tom, Karen’s Dad, he took Drew and Ella to school down in Denver. Awesome. Then he left to go back to New Mexico for the weekend.

Dylan had parent teacher conferences and was off the rest of the day, so I took him, brought Logan and Arabelle with me so I could take them to school after, then swing back home to let him out and get Karen in the car to go to the surgeon post-op care.

Anyone see the problem, yet?

Dylan’s 10 years old. Can’t leave him home alone yet. He can’t come to the surgeon. In all the planning for this day, it never occurred to me.

Thankfully, my neighbors are awesome, I call my friend Paul across the street and Dylan’s able to hang out there for what ends up being 3 hours. Yikes.

My life is barely controlled chaos. Most of you are probably better planners than I am… but this happens to all of us. The unexpected or unplanned for knocks all of our plans out of alignment and you are left scrambling to keep things together.

My plans fall apart.

Do you think that’s how God works? Like He is up there scrambling to adapt to what someone just did and reworking everything because “things got crazy?”

On one level, like the theological doctrines of omniscience and omnipotence we don’t think that.

But on another, relational level, in our prayer life, in our thought life, I do. Okay, God, what are we going to do about Dylan? How can you and I adapt the plan to this because we did not see this coming!

That’s not how this work.

Halloween - All Hallows Eve

Halloween’s coming up quick. Do you know where your children are?

For the record, I don’t think Halloween is an inherently evil holiday. It is “All Hallows Eve” or “Saint’s Evening”celebrating the faithful departed. Stay up late, remembering those who have gone before in candlelight vigils.

But Forget Halloween, let’s talk about the best holiday of them all.

Not Christmas, though I am looking forward to almost everything about Christmas. Fun Christmas sermons, some singing with y’all...

Not my birthday, though that is coming up to. I’m registered at Target.

Easter. Resurrection Sunday. A “holiday” so good it is absolutely ridiculous that we only celebrate it once a year.

The way we celebrate Halloween actually seems way more appropriate for Easter. Gravestones and graveyards and tombs. People wrapped up like mummies. The dead walking. Demons and darkness who are all defeated in resurrection!

So, here it is. Easter in October.

We are an Easter people and ‘Alleluia’ is our song!

-St. Augustine of Hippo

Augustine was, of course, the very best of the Hippos. Hippo is the ancient name of a city in Algeria, which is in North Africa. Augustine was the bishop and one of my favorite “old theologians.” (354-430) aka late 4th century.

Resurrection is not something we celebrate once a year, but it is who we are all the time. All the year. All the live-long day!

In preparation for Communion and business meeting, I read the story, our story, His story. The crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord.

And what leaped out at me this time was how messy and complicated the whole thing is.

Easter People

Luke 23:18–49 ESV

But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

The crowds and the criminals! Mocking and rebuking one another, people arguing with one another. Darkness and earthquakes.

This was the plan the whole time!

The Crucifixion. Messy and bloody and sweaty and bodily fluids and pain and mockery and other criminals and… the scene is chaos and confusion and… and then there’s earthquakes and eclipses. It’s an absolute mess!

Like me.

You might say, “but it was in fulfillment of prophecy.” And yes it was, but God authored those prophecies. He could have done it any way He wanted.

You might say, “it was in fulfullment of the sacrificial system, the unblemished lamb of God...” and it was. But God created that whole system of sacrifices. Jesus wasn’t an afterthought fulfillment of the sacrificial system. The whole sacrificial system was to prepare us for Jesus.

Why did God do it this way? Show His love this way?

Messy and painful and undeniably human to show perfect and undeniably divine love. So even though we can’t see and before we can understand the weight of all sin upon Him… we can see and understand that He did “that” for us.

This was the plan the whole time.

This was the plan to save and rescue you.

This was the plan to save and rescue me.

Love God, Love People - How do I do that?

Last week we boiled all of 1 Corinthians down to this: Love God, Love People.

Where do we find our model of "Love God, Love People?" Christ's death and resurrection.

That’s what it looks like to love people. Jesus said “Love one another as I have loved you.” Washing feet, yes. That was the immediate context. “Let me be awkward” kind of love.

But Jesus knew where he was going the next day. You think maybe he meant that too?

Who have you been crucified for lately? That’s love, radical and ridiculous love.

Love God, Love People - How do I do that, really?

But people can be terrible. Hard to love. Hard to stand. Hard to understand.

How do I love on people who I don’t like. Or who don’t like me?

Or people who actively hurt me again and again and again and again.

And it isn’t just how bad “other” people are.

And the truth is… I can be terrible. Lazy… or just weary. Tired. Grumpy. Angry. Uncomfortable doing that.

I love this.

The fake polished version of Christianity might paint this as squeaky and clean and tidy and organized. Maybe even easy.

The Bible doesn’t. Not even a little.

How does God choose to show His love? How does He decide to “take on the sins of the world?”

God enters into the very messiest of human moments, to rescue and redeem all that we are.

In Jesus life, death and resurrection we find grace and forgiveness and healing and restoration and immortality in abundant life and abounding joy.

Easter People - Resurrection

Luke 24:1–12 ESV

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

This is who we are. This is why we love. This is why we live. This is why we worship. “Marveling at what had happened.”

Communion

Isaiah 53:3–6 ESV

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

More than 700 years before Jesus fulfilled this completely, God revealed the plan. To show his love. To free us from sin and stupid and death. This is who we are and why we are here today.